Getting to a Healthy Body Weight
The first thing to remember is that weight loss is not easy. Even just staying at a healthy weight as we age can be a challenge. If you've tried to lose weight in the past and have not succeeded, don't give up! Just because you haven't met your weight loss goals in the past does not mean you won't be able to succeed this time. Support from a weight loss organization such as Weight Watchers and consulting with a nutrition professional such as a registered dietitian are a good place to start. Either of these approaches will work to help you develop a sensible and successful weight loss plan.
There are some things you can do yourself to help manage your weight too. Follow the tips below to help yourself on your weight loss plan.
Tips for Weight Loss Success
1. Focus on eating a plant-based diet. A plant-based diet isn't a vegetarian diet. It's just a diet where most of your calories come from whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes (starchy beans). Eating a plant-based diet will help with weight loss. Picture a large, fast food hamburger, such as a Big Mac or a Whopper. These foods contain about 600 to 800 calories and 35 to 45 grams of fat! Try to picture 800 calories worth of apples, carrots, whole grain cereal or beans. You could fill up a room! If you eat plant foods, you will fill up faster with fewer calories. Besides helping with weight loss, research tells us that these foods also help protect against many types of cancer!
2. Fill up on fiber. Fiber can do three things to help you lose weight. First, fiber helps to fill you up faster, so you eat fewer calories. Second, fiber will help slow down how quickly your body uses the food you eat for fuel. You feel full longer and eat less over the whole day. Finally, fiber will cut down on the amount of calories your body absorbs. New research tells us that people who eat a lot of fiber actually absorb fewer calories from the foods they eat. This helps with weight loss! In addition to weight loss benefits, foods that contain fiber, such as fruits and vegetables, also contain nutrients that can help reduce cancer risk!
3. Drink your water. Drink water before each snack and meal. Drink water throughout the day. Most people think it's good to drink water because it will fill you up. This is true, but there's an even better reason to drink more water if you're trying to lose weight. Our body tells us it's hungry. Our brains register these hunger signals. Unfortunately, our brains are not very good at telling the difference between hunger signals and thirst signals. This means that sometimes, when people think they are hungry, they might be just thirsty! They are a little dehydrated. If you keep your body well hydrated by drinking a lot of water, you take care of this problem.
Try the following trick (it really works!): Before each meal and snack, before you put ANY food into your mouth, stop and FIRST have 8 to 16 ounces of plain water. Wait 10 minutes. Then eat. It takes your brain a few minutes to register that your body has received the water. So, drink water, wait a few minutes and then eat. You still might be hungry, but chances are you'll eat less!
4. Set behavior-based goals. People who use behavior-based goals for motivation, rather than things such as a number on a scale, have more success with weight loss! For example, don't say "I'm going to fit into that outfit in one month," or "I'm going to lose 20 lbs." Instead, set goals such as, "I will exercise three times this week," "I will eat three servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables today," or "I will bring fruit to snack on at work this week." If you don't reach your goal, you can figure out why and come up with strategies for fixing the problem! This leads to weight loss success!
For example, maybe you didn't exercise because you were too tired after work. One possible solution is that you exercise before work. Or, maybe you take a walk at lunch as a way to fit in exercise. Maybe you can get an exercise buddy to help you stick to your goal. Or, if you end up snacking on potato chips at work because you forgot your fruit, maybe prepare the fruit the night before and put it right in the front of the refrigerator so you don't forget to bring it with you!
5. Think positive. Frame your diet goals in positive terms. For example, don't say, "I can't have any chocolate" or "I will never eat hamburgers again." This just focuses on what you can't have. This is a very negative and discouraging message. Instead, say to yourself, "I can add in two servings of vegetables today to improve my diet and help myself lose weight."
6. Love yourself. Don't beat up on yourself! Research shows that the more you dislike your body, the LESS likely you are to succeed at losing weight and keeping it off! Do not judge yourself! Do not say to yourself, "I'm so fat, I'll never reach my goal weight" or "I'm too heavy to exercise, I'll just look silly." Instead, begin to accept yourself as you are. Look at all of the wonderful things that your body can do for you now. Then design a diet and exercise program that you can live with.
One way to figure out a good healthy weight for you is to use Body Mass Index (BMI). You can use our Body Mass Index Calculator to determine a healthy body weight for you.